Checking In

Just a quickie with a few minutes left at the internet cafe.

We've been moved in to the new place for just over a week and we're very happy with it. It's so spacious compared to our pokey place before. Daddy Pink came down and helped us with the move and did a whole load of DIY, which is certainly not a skill I've inherited.

There's still a wad load left to do but it's sufficiently homely for us to be able to enjoy ourselves. We're away to France for a week on Thursday,which will come as a welcome break. I've got another week off from when we come back in order to tackle more things with the house.

We're not getting the internet for a couple of weeks so Poker is having a well earned Summer break too.

Till next time.

Count Down to the Big Days

On Friday we pick up the keys to our flat and on Monday it's our first wedding anniversary. Something tells me that we might still be moving/unpacking though.

I'd probably be more excited about the new place if it wasn't for the fact that it involes moving everything. There's virtually nothing I hate more than packing, moving and unpacking. Over the last five years we've probably moved our worldly possesions somewhere in the region of 10 times. For each of the first two years at Oxford we had to move in and out of college three times a year so that our rooms could be used for conferences and summer schools. For the remaining two years in Oxford we lived at two different places before moving down to London and now, a year later, we're moving again.

I've been somewhat putting off packing this week, although this morning I finally went trawling around looking for empty cardboard boxes. There were plenty, but since there's currently a rubbish collecting strike here they were all full of smelly black bags. They're now sitting in our living room. Nice!

I'm sure that knowing I should be packing boxes while I'm actually playing poker is affecting my game. I'm not playing all that well at the moment and I've been unable to limit myself to only two tables at a time which was my aim. Nevertheless I'm back over the $10K mark (just) and that's probably a good place to leave things for the next few days.

A Vegas trip in December is looking possible. A poker playing friend from uni and his girlfriend are keen on the idea which means that Mrs. Pink will have some company while he and I fullfill the six hours a day required for the Wynn's poker room rate, although it might be worth forgoing the cheaper room to be able to play at some other places too. I'd imagine that there might be a blogger gathering in Decmebr, too...?

I'll be back next week (or once we've got internet in the new place) with update and maybe even some photos.

Oh, incidentally, if any one is coming over the pond to cover the London leg of the EPT then let me know - it's always good to meet new people, especially poker bloggers!

My Relationship with Live Poker

Live poker is a strange beast. Often I find myself craving a session of live poker - be it a low-stakes home game with friends or a larger-stakes pot-limit game at the Gutshot. The problem is that it often fails to deliver in the satisfaction department and more often than not leaves me feeling very frustrated.

It boils down to the fact that those of us who spend the majority of our time playing online are spoilt. Internet poker is just far too easy. In a matter of minutes one can be logged on and sat at a multitude of juicy tables. Playing two or three shorthanded tables online will allow one to see up to 10 times more hands in any given period of time compared with live poker.

My other gripe with live poker is putting up with the opinions of those I have to sit with. Occasionally you get a table where the banter is flowing and there are good jokes to be heard, but it tends to be the case that those who give the best banter or tell the best jokes are more intelligent and therefore harder opponents than the donkeys who offer their ridiculous opinions, berate the fish and fail to react appropriately to my sarcasm. I believe that I could cope with crap table banter and arseholes if I was guaranteed to be able to see plenty of hands, but that's simply not going to happen. The only way I'm going to see lots of hands is by playing all night and opportunities to do that are few and far between and besides, I like my sleep.

Home games are great fun, but they don't usually offer the same challenge that a decent sized game in a club or casino can. Besides, I rarely get the opportunity to play in home games. Games at other people's mean spending even less time with Mrs. Pink than I already do and I've been failing miserably to set up a regular game chez nous. Perhaps when we move I will try once again to start something regular.

In the meantime I will have to make do with short and sporadic visits to the Gutshot, which seem always to leave me disappointed and yet desperate to return for more.